Beck x Warby Parker: Song Reader x Carmichael

I’m a huge fan of start ups, and I have always had my own sense of style. Thats why I was ecstatic when Warby Parker reached out to me to give my creative coverage on their latest collaboration with the musical artist Beck. Warby Parker is a new concept in eyewear that was founded with a rebellious spirit and a lofty objective: to create boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point. Beck’s eclectic nature, from hosting art galleries, to releasing an album only through sheet-music via Song Reader makes sense as to why Warby Parker would collaborate with him to create the Carmichael frames.

The idea of merging apparel/accessories and music isn’t a revolutionary idea, however the way in which Beck released a sheet-music only album is. The dynamics of this album release fits perfectly with the construction of the Carmichael’s as Warby Parker describes these frames: “Inspired by Beck’s genre-bending music and unimpeachable personal style, Carmichael is equal parts eclectic and charming.”

The part that really gets me is the juxtaposition of the frames being “a little bit bookish, a little bit bohemian.” With that said, in my opinion the Carmichael frames fit perfectly with following renditions of Becks song “Old Shanghai” from his Song Reader sheet-music.

For me, when I think of the Root Beer color I think of something with a little bit more soul and edge. For that, I would appropriate this rendition of Old Shanghai from Royal Canoe with them:

The Crystal color still has that “bohemien” feel, yet it is still clean. This would go smoothly with the same song in a rendition from the Seattle Rock Orchestra:

After writing this piece, I just might search deeper for more musical gem’s by Beck. Also, when looking for a new pair of shades I will surpass the clichéd Ray Bans and skip over to a pair of polarize Warby Parkers. In fact I think I’ll go ahead and put the Root Beer Sunglasses on my Christmas wishlist.